I am having a problem with my video becoming dim. I am using xorg-server v1.12.2 . The problem happens when I use ctrl-alt-function to switch between text displays and the running X server. When I return to the X server, the brightness of my screen is reduced by about half, making it hard to read. The same problem happens if I start a game that uses SDK. The screen goes dim as soon at the program starts.

Once the video goes dim, switching back and forth with ctrl-alt-function does not fix the problem. The only way I have to fix it is to close my desktop (enlightenment) (thereby shutting down X), and then restarting the desktop with startx. I also found that programs such as games that use SDK also cause the dimming.

The problem only occurs on my computer with ATI mb-video. If I move the hard drive to a different computer with a pci-e video card, there is no problem. Nor do I have a problem with the mb-video computer when I use an old (over 2 years) X server.

Why do you use such an old kernel, and the vesa driver instead of xf86-video-r128?

Since I do not have any new hardware, I would prefer to use a "long term stable" kernel. I am also writing my own "devfs rules" rather than using the auto created ones. Once I clear up some things with my "devfs rules" I will switch to a newer "long term stable" kernel.

I tried using the xf86-video-r128 driver, but there was some sort of bug where it would not work with the mobo-video. The driver got into some sort of infinite loop where it kept trying and failing at the same thing over and over. When I used an older version of Gentoo 2010/2008(I don't remember when) it did not even attempt to load the r128 driver, so I switched to driver I had used before. I'm not sure if I have a log, from the r128 bug.

[quote="chithanh"]If I had to guess, I would say that it is a combination of kernel, xorg-server, and xf86-video-vesa/r128 issues. Especially if you use vesafb or atyfb (can be checked by running "cat /proc/fb").

I would start with disabling any fb drivers first, and then upgrading your kernel.[/quote]

Thanks, I think i will try to resolve this using the xorg mailing list.